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Labor day does not signal the end of the season for Patricia Ladd Carega Gallery. Join us on Saturday, September 8 from 5 – 7 p.m. for a double opening reception to meet artists, Blair Folts, Madeleine Lord and Bob Hesse. Blair Folts will exhibit two new bodies of work: Family/ Famiglia ,and …. what happened while we were not paying attention…. Sculptors Madeleine Lord and Robert Hesse present their new collaborations in rearranged scrap in their exhibit: Hesse and Lord, Birds of a Feather. …. A whimsical menagerie! Patricia Ladd Carega Gallery is located at 69 Maple Street. Gallery hours are from 10 to 5 Monday through Saturday and from 12 to 5 on Sunday. For more information visit our website at patricialaddcarega.com or call 284 7728.

In both of Blair Folts’ bodies of work she is inspired by family life in the late 1800’s and early 1900’s. La Famiglia addresses her Italian roots and the passage of her family into the 21st century. Her images of passports, birth certificates and memorabilia are combined with old photographs in layered composition. …. what happened while we were not paying attention…uses the same sort of imagery to remember family life in New Hampshire and more subtly the current issues facing our state. Both bodies of work use the process of lithography but because the prints combine many different images and ghost images that are printed 3 and 4 times, the finished product is a monotype. The works are technically intriguing and artistically compelling.

Birds of a Feather….a whimsical menagerie,… is a product of the combined genius of Madeleine Lord and Robert Hesse. These pieces also have a unique history in that they are made from “foundry patterns” from the old Rice Barton works in Worcester, MA. “Foundry patterns”were exact replicas of a metal part, painstakingly constructed in wood by craftsmen of the highest skill. The pattern was pressed into a container of casting sand, then removed leaving an imprint” Molten metal was poured into the mold to make the part. Bright colors were no accident to the process. The colors guided the arrangement of shapes in the mold and final casting. Hesse and Lord’s birds sport bright yellow bellies, red wings and yellow beaks . As a tribute to the fine craftsmen who made the patterns, Hesse and Lord have left the patterns in tact with no alterations. The result is delightful genius with a history.